The present invention generally relates to miniaturized devices for carrying out and controlling chemical reactions and analyses. In particular, the present invention provides devices which have miniature temperature controlled reaction chambers for carrying out a variety of synthetic and diagnostic applications, such as PCR amplification, nucleic acid hybridization, chemical labeling, thermal cycling, nucleic acid fragmentation, transcription, sequencing and the like.
A large number of diagnostic and synthetic chemical reactions require precise monitoring and control of reaction parameters. For example, in nucleic acid based diagnostic applications, it is generally desirable to maintain optimal temperature controls for a number of specific operations in the overall process. In particular, PCR amplification requires repeated cycling through a number of specific temperatures to carry out the melting, annealing, and ligation steps which are part of the process. By reducing reaction volumes, the amount of time required for thermal cycling may also be reduced, thereby accelerating the amplification process. Further, this reduction in volume also results in a reduction of the amounts of reagents and sample used, thereby decreasing costs and facilitating analyses of small amounts of material. Similarly, in hybridization applications, precise temperature controls are used to obtain optimal hybridization conditions. Finally, a number of other pre-and post-hybridization treatments also favor precise temperature control, such as fragmentation, transcription, chain extension for sequencing, labeling, ligation reactions, and the like.
A number of researchers have attempted to miniaturize and integrate reaction vessels for carrying out a variety of chemical reactions, including nucleic acid manipulation. For example, published PCT Application No. WO 94/05414, to Northrup and White reports an integrated micro-PCR apparatus fabricated from thin silicon wafers, for collection and amplification of nucleic acids from a specimen. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,487 to Wilding, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,375 to Kricka, et al. discuss chambers and flow channels micromachined from silicon substrates for use in collection and analysis of cell samples.
The increased desire for automated chemical processes in both analytical and synthetic applications has led to a need for miniaturization and integration of existing processes and equipment for carrying out these chemical processes. The present invention meets these and other needs.